This thing is a disgrace to the citra name. More like, "citra, I just mowed my lawn and then threw the scraps into the tank," citra. Not teally feeling this one, my peeps. Thin, astringent...tastes like McDondald's if they tried to go green.

On tap while in L.A. Frankly, I found this beer to be extremely average, at best. It had a decent pine hop to it, but really found it to be one dimensional. Clear golden color with little to no head retention. The beer was smooth and did have a decent bitter aftertaste. Other than that, I would probably try other beers first. (332 characters)

22oz bomber purchased from K&L Wine Merchants in Redwood City, CA. Shared with Sam and Rich back in Sydney.

Pours a faintly hazed pale golden colour, with a very full and frothy, almost meringuey head of white that has amazing resilience and retention. Lacing is also extremely good. Body is light, but with a bit of a weight to it when swirled. It looks really very good.

Nose is thin, but fruity with citrus obviously prevalent. Slight mustiness comes through, a bit like dried orange peel, along with a hint of pepper and an old grain-cellar dust character. There's a hint of sweetness to it—perhaps rose—but not much. Overall, it's decent, but not as exciting as it could have been.

Taste follows a similar sort of trajectory: hoppy for the most part, but slightly dull in its execution, with the flavours coming out as faint preserved citrus and marmalade. Some apricot comes through, but nothing sweeter than that. The main issue perhaps is that the body doesn't support the hops, even though the hops are a little pedestrian: it leaves it feeling slightly thin in the mouth.

Overall, it's a decent and drinkable pale ale, but one that perhaps doesn't do the citra brand many favours as a hop variety: it seems a little sharp like it should, but there's not the balance in the beer that it requires. As a result, the beer is more disappointing than it should be. (1,376 characters)

A: Hazy orange-yellow California sunshine in a glass with a white head of foam. The lace is thick and laces the glass after a good amount of time.

S: The nose is beautiful and fresh with orange zest, peach and pineapple along with pine and herbal aromatics. There is also some honey sweetness lingering the back.

T: The nose is misleading with little fruit up-front which is mostly citrusy which quickly transitions to a clean bitterness with notes of pine and flowers. The malt is in the middle; crackers, bread, and honey ending in a dry and faintly peppery finish.

M: Medium bodied with ample linger and carbonation. There is some chewiness which brings some interest to the palate.

O: A brew with a promising nose which fails to translate to the palate. The fruit fails to come through culminating in a brew with little complexity or interest. This style has failed to grow on the West Coast with most breweries focusing on the IPA and DIPA market. I hope breweries will soon rise to the occasion and create flavorful ales in the low to mid ABV range. (1,116 characters)

O: this brew was recommended to me. i dig it but would rather support the efforts of local breweries on this specific APA category. a good brew but missing a foundation. a valient effort nonetheless. (538 characters)

Pours a handsome amber color in the glass. Nicely carbonated with a decent foam on the brew. The body is fairly thin as you'd expect in a Pale ale.

Very fragrant with some piney scents.Flavors of browned biscuits with a resiny smack. Overall this is sharp but pleasing. I am running out of hop adjectives, but the citrus tastes are also in evidence. A very workmanlike Pale Ale that has a wealth of hop flavors. Plenty bitter in the aftertaste but thoroughly drinkable.

On tap at the Monkey Paw bar in San Diego.

06/15/2013 update: Had this in the bottle and liked it even better. "Double Dry Hopping" is the gimmick, but it's a great hop flavor, warm and toasty with a resiny darkness and a satisfying bitter aftertaste. Tangy with plenty of citrus peel taste. Among the best APAs I've had this year. (804 characters)

S: Citra hops, front and center. My favorite hop (think ZD but not quite as drool inducing). I also pick up a subtle touch of grassiness, almost like Saaz but less. Might be getting it confused with Vienna Malt. Good, not great.

T: Light and subtle, a touch of sweetness on the finish. You get the slightly bitter Citra up front and then it fades to a more rounded out maltiness. Super light and smooth.

O: Pretty good beer, but I wont seek it. If its on a list with other beers I dont' know I'd order it. I don't know though...I LOVE single hopped citra beers especially Pale Ale's. But I didn't LOVE this one. (982 characters)

Paler than yellow and topped with an inch of soapy head which retains a part of itself all the down, yet leaves almost no lace around. The aroma brings a sweeter variety of grapefruit, plus some melon and honeydew and a spicy hop note. Its flavor leans towards the lighter side, with a dry biscuit base and a solid melon and sweet hop juice taste. A modest quantity of bitterness lingers in the aftertaste of its light body.

Summer was made for a beer like this. Refreshing and not overpowering. (544 characters)

Golden and clear, very inviting with a small finger high cap. Retention is just average and it does manage to put together some solid, messy lacing.

This beer is pure Citra hops so I know that aroma is going to be the strength of this beer. For a pale ale the hops rock the house with bright and floral tropical notes of pineapple, pink citrus and passionfruit, a bit of pine backing.

Bready and flat malt that makes up a bulk of the taste. Hops provide a light pine with a bit of resinous hop oils surfacing halfway through the bomber. Very mild in flavor and bitterness.

Hops provide adequate drying with a light body and carbonation. Alcohol is nonexistent, of course very drinkable.

This pale ale is really a great starter beer for entry into hoppy brews. It features a really nice aroma and low bitterness. Not exactly up to par for the more discerning craft connoisseur and the lofty expectations that come with the Citra name. (938 characters)

Smells fruity. Apple & pear with a touch of pineapple and peach. Slight petrochemical tinge and bit of a green edge. Pleasant.

Tastes odd. Well, unexpected. Grainy & slightly toasty. Bit of hop oil that's a bit resinous late and cleans it up as well, but yeah, definitely not as fruity/tangy as expected. Dryer, and more resinous to the point of toasty. Well-constructed palate though.

Decent fullness, bit of hop-pull as it goes down. Not bad.

Interesting drop. Feel like it should be very hoppy and fresh, but isn't quite. It isn't too much poorer for it though. (689 characters)

The beer pours a murky honey color, tones of copper and gold with a soapy white head, about a finger and half high, that has good retention and leaves a lot of lacing behind. The citra has a great effect on the nose, lots of grapefruit, tangerine, wildflower, sweet honey and berry with biscuity malted grain at the finish. The flavors aren't as distinct as the nose, the citrus is much lighter as well as the floral components, but still there, with a much more dominant focus on the malt that is lightly sweet and much breadier than the nose led on. The body is nice, coats the mouth well yet not too thick and big for a pale ale, light carbonation keeps things lively and it finishes with a soft creamy touch.

Verdict: A very solid, sessionable pale ale from El Segundo. The nose is wonderful but it falls short on the tongue. That being said, this is a great pale ale from an up and coming brewery, and one of my favorite options on draft in the LA area. (1,010 characters)

Slightly hazed orange and amber with a small off-white head that leaves dots of lace down the glass.

The aroma on this beer is simply beautiful. There's tons of tropical, pineapple, and citrusy orange and grapefruit characteristics erupting from the glass, certainly due to the Citra hops. Awesome. Everyone I handed my glass to marveled at the aroma.

The flavor isn't as successful, though still above average. This is obviously a generously hopped American pale ale, but most of that hop presence comes in the way of general bitterness, as most of the tropical fruit characteristic is lost.

Medium bodied with ample carbonation.

The incredible aroma can't quite carry this above average pale ale to greatness, though I'd be more than happy to have this one again. (826 characters)

First time with this brew. Pours a golden yellow color with a small head that faded fast. light lacing left on the sides of my pint, with medium bubbles persisting. initial aroma redolent of citrus, pineapple hops. something piney on the back end after imbibing. i appreciate the dryness of this brew; nice to enjoy a mid 5 ABV pale ale with a bitter, dry edge like this one. outstanding? no, but pretty damn tasty. (415 characters)

Pours a clear honey orange with a foamy bone colored head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of citrus fruit, citrus zest, slight tropical fruit, and malt. Taste is much the same with a mild amount of hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with some nice citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors. (543 characters)

Classic light amber, deep yellow, to light orange body and quite clear as well. Head is fluffy with a flat bright white top, and at three fingers tall manages to slowly and evenly fall, keeping a bit of soapy retention. Very pale, and very nice.

Ah those citra hops, a bit of juice and tropical, but the malt and toast is no slouch here either. Good toasty aroma, with mild caramel sense, a good play on toast and sweetness in that department, with the hops making a nice tropical accent. Spritzy feeling slightly with powdery brown spices as well. Quite a good balance.

Palate delivers nicely. A real soft body with a hint of light pale ale touch. Soft malts with a good toasty brown breads and crust. Mild caramel finish gives way too classic hop angle of juiced tropicals and even a bit of earth interestingly. Repeated sips are a good balance of toast malt crackery sense and aromatic hop fruit.

What a simple good balanced pale ale, with a nice hop touch. The way it should be done. (1,039 characters)

Poured from a 22 ounce bottle into an Allagash cervoise glass. I'm assured this is quite fresh.

A: Filtered pale-amber with nice, white head and good lacing.

S: Incredible! The fruit is magnificent. Mangoes and grapefruit.

T: Wow. Apricot, which I don't know how I missed in the smell, is the dominant flavor on the tongue. Light bitterness is unobjectionable to all, but still enough to placate the hophead. The aftertaste is dry.

Appearance: Pours a clear straw color with orange highlights. About 1/2" of eggshell white head forms, which has nice retention and lacing, aided by an appropriate moderate-high level of carbonation. Good looking APA.

Smell: Some biscuity and caramel malts peek through, but this beer is all about the Citra. Nice dank citrus presence really dominates here. Melon and mango also detected.

Taste: Nice caramel malt backbone detected up front, probably more prevalent on the palate than on the nose. Lots of mango, citrus, and dankness mid palate and back end. Extremely nice. Not really any bitterness to speak of, but I'm definitely one that favors citrus presence over bitterness in my hops.

Mouthfeel/Overall: Mouthfeel is light with moderate carbonation. Fairly dry finish. Nice. Overall, I'm definitely a fan of this beer. Quite tasty, and it probably drinks even less than 5.5% ABV. Very sessionable. This is one of those beers I should have in my fridge at all times; if only it came in 6 packs. (1,007 characters)